The road I live on has a stretch of woods below my house where no one can see you if you decide to throw your trash out the window. Unfortunately, people take advantage of this little stretch of road and it is polluted with so much garbage. Empty cans, cups, fast food bag and random pieces of trash. It looks horrible. What could be such a pretty piece of road with a little stream and untouched forest looks disgusting. It is not a pleasant view as I make my way from my house to town everyday.
I was reading in James 3 this morning and he talks about the tongue. Oh, our tongue! It gets us in trouble a lot, doesn’t it? Some folks more than others…but everyone at one time or another has said something that they wished they could take back. In James 3:6, the Bible says that our tongue pollutes our whole body and sets the course of life on fire! That’s pretty strong words. Our words have the power to pollute the environment around us, or keep it beautiful! What comes out of our mouth can leave the area around us looking like the road past my house, so when people come in contact with us, they just want to keep going…or our tongue has the ability to speak words that bring life. Words that will make everyone want to pull over beside us and spend a few moments, because they feel as though they have been with God! Shouldn’t that always be our goal? When someone leaves our presence, they feel as though they have been with Jesus?
Don’t forget how powerful your tongue is today. As James talks about how a small bit in a horses mouth can control the whole horse and a tiny rudder in relation to a massive ship…our tongue is just as powerful! It may be small, but our speech can affect our whole being! When we speak death, destruction and hate…our bodies will soon reflect those words! When we speak life, encouragement and love…our actions (bodies) will follow suit.
Speak faith over someone today and encourage them with your words. Let your words be more beautiful that silence…springing forth blooms of the Holy Spirit that lives with us. Let’s not pollute this world with more garbage from our mouths, but offer a flower garden with the sweet aroma of Jesus from our lips that everyone wants to see and hear.
